1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shading hood for a digital camera having a liquid crystal monitor openably provided on an outside surface of a camera body or a digital camera having a liquid crystal monitor provided mainly on a back surface portion of a camera body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been provided such a kind of a shading hood according to techniques of respectively providing side-face hoods and a front-face hood in a collapsible manner onto three sides of a liquid crystal monitor, which is openably mounted on a rotating seat provided on an outside surface of a camera body, through hinges so that these hoods are adapted to be opened by being interlocked with an opening operation of the liquid crystal monitor, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-83608.
Further, there have been provided techniques of providing an optical viewfinder hood on a video camera in such a manner as to have a size and a shape that enable the hood to closely be fitted along the outer periphery of a liquid crystal monitor enabled to serve as an electronic viewfinder, and as to also have a rear portion, in which an eyepieces hood is formed, so that a user sees an image, which is displayed on the liquid crystal panel, through the eyepiece hood, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-322575.
However, in such conventionally proposed shading hoods, for instance, according to the techniques disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-83608, the camera body and the shading hood member are integrally formed in such a way as to be interlocked with each other. Moreover, even in the case that the shading hood is unnecessary, for example, in the case that the camera is used in dim light, such a shading hood member is always opened when the liquid crystal monitor is opened. Therefore, the conventional shading hood member has drawbacks in that the shading hood member is a hindrance to the photographing and monitoring of images, and that the mechanism of the shading hood member is complex, and that the cost of the camera increases.
Moreover, according to the techniques disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-322575, the optical viewfinder itself is formed in such a manner as to have a size and a shape that cause the hood to closely be fitted along the outer periphery of a liquid crystal monitor. Thus, the optical viewfinder to be fitted along the outer periphery of the monitor should be preliminarily formed in such a manner as to have accurate dimensions. Therefore, when the camera is manufactured, sufficient fitting accuracy is required. Additionally, the constitution of the camera becomes complex. Consequently, the cost thereof increases. Furthermore, only a single user looks at an image by one of his eyes through the eyepiece hood formed in the rear portion of the optical viewfinder. Thus, although the shading hood completely shuts out strong light, such as sunlight, a plurality of persons cannot simultaneously see an image displayed on a liquid crystal panel. Moreover, details of an object are out of focus, so that an image formed on a liquid crystal screen is very indistinct.
In recent years, digital cameras each including a liquid crystal monitor, which has a liquid crystal screen provided on a rear portion of a camera body and can be used as an electronic viewfinder, have come into wide use.
Hitherto, a method of closely fitting and attaching shading hood members along the outer periphery of the liquid crystal monitor has been employed so as to enable a plurality of persons to simultaneously see a sharp image displayed on a liquid crystal screen by reliably shading incident external light in a camera of such a kind.
However, such a conventionally proposed digital camera has the following drawbacks. That is, attaching portions, such as a to-be-fitted groove portion mating with the outside shape of the shading hood member itself, for allowing the shading hood member to closely be fitted therearound should be formed along the outer periphery of the liquid crystal monitor. Moreover, at that time, unless the dimensions of the to-be-fitted groove to be formed along the outer circumference of the liquid crystal monitor should be preliminarily and accurately set, there is a fear that the shading hood member is incompletely attached thereto and becomes easy to come off. Furthermore, when a digital camera is manufactured, a redundant step of forming a to-be-fitted groove portion in a camera body itself is added to a manufacturing process thereof. Additionally, because the shading hood member requires the fitting accuracy, the cost of the camera increases.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,419, entitled xe2x80x9cCollapsible Glare Reduction Device For A Video Monitorxe2x80x9d discloses that the device has a top panel, first and second panels. The top panel, first and second panels are openable to define a hood. Therefore, the user must constructs the hood while attaching it to a monitor. The hood is secured by securing means to a monitor. The securing means must have been attached around the monitor beforehand.
The invention is created in view of the aforementioned circumstances of the conventional shading hood. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a shading hood for a digital camera having a liquid crystal screen, which can easily be attached to a liquid crystal monitor of a digital camera of the existing type, if necessary, and which thus can be provided for all models of digital cameras and which has a simple structure and is compact in size, as compared with the conventional integral hood structure, and which can be manufactured at low cost and reliably shade external incident light, and which enables a plurality of persons to simultaneously see a clear and sharp image displayed on the liquid crystal screen.